A Bunch of Flowers for a Single Smile
by ladynadiad
Summary: You could just buy her real flowers" Jade had told him, however Guy wanted to spend the extra time and effort to win a smile from her. Post game, Guy/Tear


**Note from Author**: As always, these characters do not belong to me, they belong to Namco Bandai. Of course as always if Namco Bandai is willing to give Asch, Guy or Jade to me, I would be happy to take them. But until then, all I can do is play around with them in my writings. This is a creation of my own overactive imagination and serious boredom, nothing more and nothing less.

* * *

With one final twist of his screwdriver, Guy at last finished up his newest invention. It was to be a lovely bunch of flowers that could change color and even the type of flowers with the press of a button. Now it was merely a matter of testing it to make sure everything worked just as he had intended them to.

As he knew from previous attempts at building and fixing fon machines, this wasn't the end of it. No, it was merely the beginning . Now he would have to test it, adjust as necessary and then test again. Many times this part took even longer than coming up with the original design in the first place. But it was very important, because if the device harmed himself or others, it would not be at all useful. Since this was to be a gift, he especially wanted it to work just as it should.

First he pressed the small button that would allow him to operate the other controls. That was a safety mechanism he installed to make sure it couldn't be operated at random. He was pleased to hear the sound of an ever so slight click as the mechanisms went into place.

He held his breath as he pressed the second button, waiting to see if his work would explode in his face, work the way it should, or not work at all. Sadly, the exploding in his face was something that had happened more than he would care to admit.

He relaxed ever so slightly when it did what it was supposed to do. The petals changed from one color to another. But this was the simpler of the two controls. Now he had one more button to try out and hope for the best with. Then whatever the result, he could finally breathe easy again.

"So who's the lucky woman?" The familiar voice of Jade suddenly said from over his shoulder.

He jumped in surprise and accidentally threw his invention towards a wall. "Gah! Jade, don't sneak up like that!"

"Well, it made for a good experiment in the sturdiness of your invention. Only one piece broke off, not bad after hitting a wall."

He got up and picked up the pieces of the flowers, Jade was right, only one petal broke off, not too bad at all considering. "I worked for hours on it and didn't even get a chance to finish testing the controls."

"Controls? For flowers?"

"Yes. To change the color and shape of the petals on the flowers. The color change works fine, but I didn't test the other out."

"You could just buy her real flowers, you know."

"I thought about it, but it might give the wrong message. I wanted to do something special, something that would maybe make her smile for just a moment, even if it has to be at my expense."

"So it's for Tear, correct? You would do better giving her a cheagle, plush or otherwise.."

"Damn Jade, how did you figure that out so quickly?"

"Easily enough with those broad hints you gave. If you want to win her over, something cute would work well. Then you may have hopes of seeing her show emotion."

"I'm not trying to date her or anything! This is just supposed to be a friendly gift. And if you know what to look for, she does smile ever so slightly when happy or pleased. She's easier to read than you are."

"Of course you aren't trying to date her. You would have quite the problem doing so unless you got over your phobia in the past few days."

"Argh...so what brings you here, anyway?"

"I was merely asked by his Imperial Majesty to make sure you hadn't died on us or something. He was quite worried that you haven't been around. I imagine he will be pleased to know it was a woman who caused it."

"Don't you dare tell him! I'll never hear the end of it. Just say I wasn't feeling well or something, please?"

"Of course I will. Good luck on your date with Tear." Jade said before he left.

Jade's visit left him very unsettled. That man sure had a tendency to get to the root of an issue real fast. Yeah, he had an interest in Tear, but between his fear of women, and the fact that Luke had been so fond of her, he couldn't do anything.

And now, he was afraid to do anything, because he felt he was betraying his friend by showing interest in the woman his friend cared for. It was a mess, because they hadn't been truly dating per se, but it was obvious seeing the two of them together that there were feelings between them. But now Luke was gone, probably never to return now. Life went on whether they wanted it to or not. At the very least, he and Tear could help each other get past their guilt and sadness over Luke's disappearance.

But first, he had to make sure he was ready for her upcoming visit. No matter what Jade said, he knew she would appreciate the gesture. He just hoped that she would smile for him, even if it was just one time.

--

He waited at the docks for her arrival in a nervous frenzy. Thankfully, he had finished his gift, but now he was nervous about her reaction to it. Would she even like it? He was pretty sure she would, especially considering the last minute addition--a vase that was shaped to look like a cheagle was holding it.

He had been asked to meet Tear's ship, something he didn't mind at all, and to also show her to her quarters for her visit. Visiting dignitaries such as herself were provided with reasonably spacious quarters, and he added his gift to her as a small touch to welcome her.

Between his nerves and his tiredness, he was most definitely a wreck. He had stayed up well into the night finishing the final adjustments on his gift. Then he had to get up early to make the preparations in time to meet her ship, which should have been here by now.

He was glad Jade wasn't able to make it here today. The last thing he needed was Jade's sarcastic remarks while he was a nervous wreck.

He was so relieved to see a ship arrive. That had to be the one she was on, and it meant that should would be here within a short time. His wait was nearly over, but that did nothing to calm his nerves one bit.

What he didn't understand was why was he so nervous? He didn't want to try anything with Tear, just be a friend to her. But at the same time, he didn't want to upset her or anything like that. She had been rather down since they defeated Van, but she barely showed it, instead she made herself so busy she didn't have time to think about losing both her brother and Luke.

The ship finally docked at last and let out the few passengers it has, all dignitaries from Daath and Yulia City. Tear was the last one to get off. She lagged behind the others a bit and really wasn't looking anywhere in particular. It wasn't surprising to see her separate from the others, there was still a division between Yulia City and Daath even though both cities were part of the Order. But her other behaviors showed that things still hadn't changed one bit.

"Tear!" he called out to get her attention.

She looked up and turned towards him. Once she saw who was calling out to her, she walked over towards where he was standing. "It's good to see you again, Guy. The Colonel didn't join you this time?"

"Nah, Peony's been working him real hard lately it seems. So it's just me this time. Do you have anything else to get before I take you to your quarters?"

"No."

"Then let's get going. You probably are tired."

"Yes. I would like some rest before seeing his Majesty."

They walked over to where her temporary quarters were to be for the duration of her stay in silence. It was obvious she didn't really want to engage in idle chat and he was just too nervous to even try to get her to open up.

They arrived to the quarters assigned to her. He unlocked the door and handed her the key to it. Then he held the door open since she was holding a bag and walked in after she did.

He waited for her to see his gift to her, once she read the card with it, she would know who left it just for her. He didn't have long to wait, she saw them almost immediately and then she picked up the card and read it over.

"Guy, you didn't have to get me something."

"I know, but I wanted to give them to you."

"They are quite lovely. And the vase, it's cute and looks just like Mieu. So they change colors?"

He smiled. "They do. You also can change what flower they are. Since I knew you like selenias, I had them be white selenias. You can also make them blue, pink or red along with white, or they could be changed to roses or even the rare qusyhis flower."

"Really? I had never seen one of those outside of pictures."

"They are rare now, but they used to grow on Hod in abundance. Since you never got to see your homeland, I thought it would be a good addition. Here, let me show you." He picked up the flowers out of the vase and worked the controls so she could see a blue flower that looked like a mix between an orchid and a rose. "They were mostly blue, but sometimes you could find white ones, those were rare even on Hod, now they don't really exist."

She looked up at him... "Thank you for sharing this with me. It must have taken a long time to make something so nice."

"That ever so slight smile of yours that you have when you are happy makes every minute I spent worth it."

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A/N: Due to the nature of what I wrote this for there is one thing I feel needs to be said because I completely made it up. The mention of the qusyhis flower is completely made up in my mind, though I admit, the idea behind it isn't all that out there. I imagine that there were things that were made rare if not extinct due to the fall of Hod and Akzeriuth, which was where the idea came from. However, for the activity that this was for, I had to use the word qusyhis and make up a meaning for it, so I made it a flower for Guy to give to Tear.

Anyway, I hope those who wanted me to try Guy/Tear appreciate this, and as always reviews are greatly appreciated!


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